Super Stardust Ultra Review

Super stardust ultra has a very familiar feel to it. You know that familiar feel games can have? Like all COD games arguably being the same, or Fifa 14 and 15 could sort of feel the same? Well Super stardust ultra has that same sort of feel. The reason for that is because the game is basically a carbon copy of super stardust released on the PS3 almost 10 years ago. Housemarque have added additional modes to the newest incarnation of this title, but the game is largely unchanged.

Although the game is now releasing for a 3rd time, Housemarques title remains stellar and one on the definitive twin stick shooter experiences. A number of new modes were added the the latest version and the developers have utilised the controllers speaker. Shouting out which weapon you have selected or upgrade you have collected. Other than that, plus minor tweaks, the game is the same so many already know and love.

You pilot a small ship and are tasked with clearing small planets of…everything. Asteroids, enemy ships, robots, aliens… everything. You can collect kryptonite looking upgrades and new weapons from blasting open asteroids and rocks. You can feel the old school influences throughout this game. It feels like how an updated version of Asteroids would feel. the title also pulls heavily from geometry wars. So more like Asteroids meets geometry wars.

Super stardust ultra can feel a little overwhelming at from the off. With enemies, rocks and asteroids all hurling towards you within seconds. But you will quickly get to grips with the tasks being asked of you. dodging everything but the kitchen sink while blasting anything with or without a pulse is an exhilarating and daunting experience.

The controls really pull this game together allowing you to get used to them on the early stages before turning the difficulty up to 11 and then forcing you to master them. I found them perfect, not too sensitive or unresponsive. Levels will try and thwart you with 4 waves of enemies. They attack one after another with no respite, forcing you to regroup as quickly as possible. after the waves are depleted, the planets boss with land. Notably much larger than his minions sent out in waves. The boss fights change everything you were doing while fighting the smaller enemies. Forcing you to think on your feet and change tactic and technique on the fly.

When this game released back on the PS3, DLC followed, containing new mondes. These modes have been added to ultra at no extra cost. Which is expected as this is the 3rd release for the title. There is some fresh content in this title however that didn’t make it to the PS3. Local multiplayer has been added, im unsure why this wasn’t available on the PS3 version.

With so many developers taking away local multiplayer nowadays, its good to see it back for the outing. 2 modes have been created and added the Ultra too. Blockade is the first. You come up against a neverending array of enemies, while you move you deploy mines behind you, meaning you can’t go over the same space twice…unless you want your ship to be scattered across the galaxy. This is really fun and adds a delightful twist on what is already a hard game. the second new mode is interactive streaming. I love innovations and this is up there with the best on PS4. As you play the game, you stream your gameplay to twitch. your audience then decide what is going to happen. They can help you or hinder you based on whatever they want to do. If you can get a decent size audience, this can be a lot of fun.

On the whole, Super stardust Ultra is largely the same. If you have the PS3 version, you’re not missing much. Only the avid and biggest fans who crave more and more content should own this more than once. But if you are new to the game, definitely pick this one up. Its fun, innovative and demands you to master it. the game looks beautiful and plays that way to. Its a shame more new content wasn’t added, but Housemarque’s definitive title will not disappoint newcomers and veterans alike.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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